The Child Poverty Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to place a legal duty on the government, local authorities, and other organizations to help to end child poverty by the target date of 2020.
Source: Child Poverty Bill, Department for Work and Pensions/TSO | Debate 9 December 2009, columns 388-465, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2009-Dec
A study examined the challenges faced by the Northern Ireland Assembly in meeting its target of eradicating child poverty. It found that persistent poverty in Northern Ireland (21 per cent before housing costs) was more than double that in Great Britain (9 per cent before housing costs).
Source: Goretti Horgan and Marina Monteith, What Can We Do to Tackle Child Poverty in Northern Ireland?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | JRF press release | Ulster University press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that the number of children in families without jobs and having to survive on benefits had jumped by 170,000 in just twelve months, and had reached its highest level for a decade. Child poverty was growing in affluent areas as well as those traditionally hard-hit.
Source: Donald Hirsch, Through Thick and Thin: Tackling child poverty in hard times, End Child Poverty (020 7843 1913)
Links: Report | ECP press release | Childrens Society press release | UNICEF UK press release | YWCA press release | Guardian report | New Start report
Date: 2009-Nov
A new book examined child poverty in historical perspective. It considered why child poverty had come to be seen as such a pressing problem, the particular form that the problem had taken, and how the state had responded to it.
Source: Lucinda Platt, Child Poverty in Historical Perspective: From 1900 to the present, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Nov
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers welcomed the Child Poverty Bill (enshrining in law the government's commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020) as a 'human rights enhancing measure'. But it recommended that the Bill should be amended to place the government under a duty to implement the child poverty strategy, so that there was an additional mechanism for holding the government to account by judicial review. It also called for the inclusion in the Bill of a target applying to children not living in 'qualifying' households – children who lived in communal accommodation or who lived in accommodation without a postcode. Duties to consult children about the preparation of child poverty strategies were 'imprecise'.
Source: Legislative Scrutiny: Child Poverty Bill, Twenty-eighth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 1118 and HL 183, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Nov
A study found that people considered an income of at least £25,000 per annum necessary to ensure financial security before having children. 20 per cent said that they would seriously consider not having children because the cost of having them was so high.
Source: Future Foundation, Families, Finance and the Future, National Savings and Investments (020 7348 9301)
Links: Report | NSI press release
Date: 2009-Nov
An article examined the recent history of early years provision and critically explored the extent to which the government had been effective in unifying services, raising the status of early years practitioners, addressing underfunding, and challenging disadvantage and social exclusion.
Source: John Wadsworth and Rosalyn George, 'Choosing the right approach: New Labour and the care and education of young children', FORUM: for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education, Volume 51 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Oct
A think-tank report presented the interim findings of a study that examined the detailed spending, saving, and borrowing behaviour during the economic recession of a group of families on low incomes.
Source: Dalia Ben-Galim with Tess Lanning, When Times Are Tough: Tracking household spending and debt through diaries – Interim findings, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report | IPPR press release | New Start report
Date: 2009-Oct
A report highlighted a number of ways in which children and young people who lived in low-income households in rural Wales were being excluded from services that were available to their contemporaries living in urban areas.
Source: Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural Wales, End Child Poverty Network Cymru
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Oct
Findings were published from the baseline stage of a pilot project providing work-focused services in children's centres. The pilot was operating in 30 children's centres across ten local authority areas, running from January 2009 to March 2011. It was designed to provide work-focused services through a dedicated Jobcentre Plus personal adviser, as well as activities and provision designed to support local parents into the labour market. It was found that there was more than sufficient demand among parents who used the children's centres for both work-focused services and for having this service located at the children's centre.
Source: Rachel Marangozov, Work-Focused Services in Children's Centres Pilot: Evaluation baseline report, Research Report , Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2009-Sep
A report summarized research into the factors involved in inter-professional working in multi-purpose children's settings (in particular as these applied to extended schools and children's centres), based on a comparative study of England and Sweden. The structure of services in early childhood education and care and schools in England was more complex and diverse, with a more hierarchical workforce, than in Sweden. Swedish social and educational policy favoured 'working together': in England, in spite of goodwill on the part of staff and explicit government policy, this was more difficult because the 'facilitative underpinnings' for working together were not in place.
Source: Claire Cameron et al., Working Together in Extended Schools and Children's Centres: A study of inter-professional activity in England and Sweden, Research Brief RBX-09-10, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief
Date: 2009-Aug
A survey found that 1 in 5 parents on a low income (22 per cent) were not checking if their children were entitled to free school meals. Some parents could be wasting £1,140 a year by failing to check entitlement, and instead giving their children money to buy lunch.
Source: Pollab Limited, Awareness of Entitlement to Free School Meals, School Food Trust (020 7273 5205)
Links: BBC report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Aug
A statistical first release reported provisional findings from the School Census held in England in January 2009, covering the number of pupils by age, gender, free school meal eligibility, ethnicity, first language, special educational needs, and gifted and talented pupils. In 2009 the percentage of pupils in nursery and primary schools known to be eligible for free school meals was 15.9, an increase from 15.5 per cent in 2008: for pupils in all state-funded secondary schools the percentage rose from 13.1 per cent in 2008 to 13.4 in 2009.
Source: Schools, Pupils, and Their Characteristics, January 2009 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 08/2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Aug
A review of qualitative research with low-income families and children presented a summary of evidence from the previous 10 years regarding the 'lived experience' of poverty. The experience of poverty was almost always overwhelmingly negative, and could have psychological, physical, relational, and practical effects on people's lives. Poverty was a highly stigmatized social position, and the experience of poverty in an affluent society could be particularly isolating and socially damaging.
Source: Tess Ridge, Living with Poverty: A review of the literature on children's and families' experiences of poverty, Research Report 594, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2009-Jul
An article examined why the family nurse partnership (FNP) had been promoted as a means of tackling social exclusion. (The FNP consists of visits by nurses to low-income first-time mothers, focused on teaching parenthood and encouraging mothers back into education and/or into employment.) The FNP was part of a new approach to social exclusion designed to identify quickly the most 'at-risk' households, individuals, and children so that interventions could be targeted more effectively. There was a 'considerable amount of ambiguity' about the relationship between specific risk factors and being 'at risk of social exclusion'.
Source: Anneliese Dodds, 'Families "at risk" and the family nurse partnership: the intrusion of risk into social exclusion policy', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 38 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jul
Researchers examined a pilot for disadvantaged children at age 2, which provided free early years education with the aim of improving children's social and cognitive outcomes. Overall, the pilot did not significantly improve the children's development, their parent-child relationship, or the home learning environment (relative to a matched comparison group). But parents felt that the setting had positively affected their ability to parent, together with their physical health and mental well-being; and had provided them with opportunities for self-improvement.
Source: Ruth Smith et al., Early Education Pilot for Two Year Old Children: Evaluation, Research Report RR134, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | DCSF press release
Date: 2009-Jul
The inspectorate for education and children's services examined the impact of integrated services on children, parents, and families in 20 children's centres in deprived areas. The effective integration of services was having a positive impact in terms of support for children and parents in over half of the centres visited. Three centres were judged as making an outstanding difference. Challenges remained, however, in relation to onward links with primary schools, reaching the most vulnerable families, and developing data on outcomes for parents and children. The least effective partnership working seen was between the children's centres and Jobcentre Plus.
Source: The Impact of Integrated Services on Children and their Families in Sure Start Children's Centres, HMI 080253, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | New Start report
Date: 2009-Jul
The Child Poverty Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was designed to place a legal duty on the government, local authorities, and other organizations to help to end child poverty by the target date of 2020.
Source: Child Poverty Bill, Department for Work and Pensions, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 20 July 2009, columns 603-679, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | CPAG press release | ECP briefing
Date: 2009-Jul
A report said that the poorest families were bearing the brunt of the economic recession. It followed the lives of 16 families, all living below the relative income poverty line, and found that they frequently had to turn to expensive and unaffordable loan companies in order to survive.
Source: Julie Harris, Morag Treanor and Neera Sharma, Below the Breadline: A year in the life of families in poverty, Barnardo's (01268 520224)
Links: Report | Barnardo's press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A report used data from the Families and Children Study to explore social exclusion among families with children. 18 markers of risk were constructed from the data, including income poverty, lack of social contact, and overcrowded accommodation.
Source: Paul Oroyemi, Giacomo Damioli, Matt Barnes and Tim Crosier, Understanding the Risks of Social Exclusion Across the Life Course: Families with children, Social Exclusion Task Force/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1234)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report said that the Welsh Assembly Government needed to radically revise its child poverty strategy, in the light of evidence that the number of children living in poverty in Wales had increased since 2005.
Source: Victoria Winckler, What Is Needed to End Child Poverty in Wales?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | Findings | JRF press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report examined whether a benchmarking system would support the achievement of best value for money from Sure Start children's centres, and whether it would support delivery of their key objectives. It was concluded that the wide variety of management/financial arrangements and structures would make a benchmarking system difficult to implement.
Source: HEDRA, Sure Start Children's Centres: Financial Benchmarking to Ensure Value for Money, Research Report RR123, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2009-Jun
A report examined the ways in which outreach was being delivered by children's centres and schools offering access to extended services. It said that children's centres and schools were successfully engaging 'hard-to-reach' families – including those affected by poverty, poor living environments, health problems, and other features of social exclusion.
Source: Capacity, Outreach to Children and Families: A Scoping Study, Research Report RR116, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2009-Jun
An official taskforce report examined ways in which local services could support parents to access all their relevant benefit and tax credit entitlements, in order to contribute to tackling child poverty.
Source: Take Up Taskforce, Take up the Challenge: The role of local services in increasing take up of benefits and tax credits to reduce child poverty, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report summarized the findings from the 2007 Families and Children Study (FACS), which investigated the circumstances of British families with dependent children. In 2007 one-quarter of families with children were lone parent families. Lone parent families were more than three times as likely to live in social housing than couple families, and nearly seven times as likely to have a total family income in the lowest income quintile. Just over three-quarters of families received either a benefit or a tax credit, other than child benefit. Lone parent families, families where no one was in work of 16 or more hours per week, and families in the lowest and second income quintile were, on average, more likely to be deprived than other families.
Source: Dan Philo, Natalie Maplethorpe, Anne Conolly and Mari Toomse, Families with Children in Britain: Findings from the 2007 Families and Children Study (FACS), Research Report 578, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2009-Jun
An article examined recent policy developments relating to children and families experiencing multiple adversities. There was a tendency to focus on shorter-term outcomes for the child, such as immediate safety, that primarily reflected the outputs of the child protection system. The authors called for earlier identification of, and intervention with, children who were experiencing multiple adversity, such as those living with parents misusing substances and exposed to intimate partner violence.
Source: John Devaney and Trevor Spratta, 'Child abuse as a complex and wicked problem: reflecting on policy developments in the United Kingdom in working with children and families with multiple problems', Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 31 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jun
The Child Poverty Bill was published. The Bill would place a legal duty on the government, local authorities, and other organizations to help to end child poverty by the target date of 2020.
Source: Child Poverty Bill, Department for Work and Pensions, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Impact assessment | Equality impact assessment | Summary | Consultation responses | DWP press release | DCSF press release | CPAG press release | ECP press release | Barnardos press release | Action for Children press release | NCB press release | London Councils press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report | New Start report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report said that unnecessary 'churning' in the tax and benefits system had undermined family self-reliance and turned four-fifths of families into welfare claimants. It recommended that tax allowances for dependent children and for non-working spouses should be restored; that tax credits should be cut back so that they were only claimed by low-income working families; and that there should be a single family tax credit, normally payable annually in arrears so as to eliminate the overpayments problem and reduce fraud.
Source: Peter Saunders, Reforming the UK Family Tax and Benefit System, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2009-Jun
Researchers examined the living standards of children from households that reported low incomes, with a particular focus on whether their parents were employed, self-employed, or out of work. The risk factors for being in income poverty, living standards hardship, or both, were analyzed. Longitudinal data were used to look at the effect of work status, and spells in and out of work, on income poverty and living standards.
Source: Mike Brewer, Cormac O'Dea, Gillian Paull and Luke Sibieta, The Living Standards of Families with Children Reporting Low Incomes, Research Report 577, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2009-May
A report by a committee of MSPs said that the Scottish and United Kingdom governments needed to work together to tackle child poverty. Collaborative efforts to improve issues such as access to affordable childcare, flexible working, and benefits take-up would help to lift children out of poverty. It also called for Scottish Government policies to be assessed for their impact on poverty.
Source: Report on Child Poverty in Scotland, 10th Report 2009, SP Paper 267, Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A report said that approximately 21 per cent of children in Scotland were living in poverty. Despite progress over the previous decade in reducing child poverty – reductions were greater in Scotland than in other parts of the United Kingdom – levels had remained stable since 2004-05 and were fairly similar to the rest of the UK.
Source: Stephen Sinclair and John McKendrick, Child Poverty in Scotland: Taking the next steps, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | JRF press release | Community Care report | Guardian report | New Start report
Date: 2009-May
A paper examined the potential and parameters for a research study of child poverty and ethnicity.
Source: Lucinda Platt, Ethnicity and Child Poverty Feasibility Study, Working Paper 69, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2009-May
A report examined how and why child poverty varied across ethnic groups, drawing on data from 2002 to 2007. It focused on the extent to which minority-ethnic children's poverty could be understood in terms of recognized risk factors that policy was already concerned to address, such as the high poverty rates among lone parent families.
Source: Lucinda Platt, Ethnicity and Child Poverty, Research Report 576, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2009-May
A report provided an overview of quantitative social trends and policies in developed countries. The fall in child poverty rates in the United Kingdom between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s was the second largest among the countries examined. But the UK had the second highest rate of teenagers not in education, employment, or training.
Source: Society at a Glance 2009: OECD Social Indicators, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (+33 1 4524 8200)
Links: Summary | OECD press release
Date: 2009-May
A report examined the effectiveness of both existing and new questions on poverty, for use in the British Social Attitudes Survey. It considered (among other things) whether the public believed child poverty existed in Britain, what it was, and who was responsible for tackling it.
Source: Margaret Blake, Elizabeth Clery, Joanna d'Ardenne and Robin Legard, Cognitive Testing: British Social Attitudes Child Poverty Questions, Research Report 574, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2009-Apr
The government announced (in the 2009 Budget) a £20 increase (above indexation) in the annual amount of the per-child element of child tax credit from 2010-11. An extra £100 a year would be added to the child trust funds of disabled children, and £200 would be added in the case of severely disabled children.
Source: Budget 2009: Building Britain's future, HC 407, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard | HMT press release | CPAG press release | ECP press release | JRF press release | UNICEF press release | Barnardos press release | Save the Children press release | Childrens Society press release | NCB press release | Oxfam press release | Mencap press release | PSLA press release | New Start report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Apr
A study said that the United Kingdom ranked 24th for children's well-being in a study of 29 European countries. The well-being of children was measured across seven areas: health, education, housing, material resources, relationships, risk, and how young people felt about their lives. The UK's worst performance came in material resources, where it was ranked 24th out of a table of 26, due to the high proportion of families where no parent worked.
Source: Child Wellbeing and Child Poverty: Where the UK Stands in the European Table, Child Poverty Action Group (020 7837 7979)
Links: Report | CPAG press release | ECP press release | UNICEF press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
A think-tank report examined public attitudes towards government action to support family life. 50 per cent of people thought that anybody with a child should get some government help towards the cost of raising it: but 40 per cent believed that only low-income parents should get government help.
Source: Sarah Jenkins, Isabella Pereira and Natalie Evans, Families in Britain: The impact of changing family structures and what the public think, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650) and Ipsos MORI
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2009-Apr
A manifesto called for the government to combat child poverty by investing at least £3 billion in benefits and tax credits.
Source: Ending Child Poverty: A Manifesto for Success, Child Poverty Action Group (020 7837 7979)
Links: Manifesto | CPAG press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
The Welsh Assembly Government announced legislation that would place a duty on it to develop a new child poverty strategy for Wales, which would have to be reviewed every three years. A duty would also be placed on specific Welsh public bodies to identify and take action to assist in the goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020.
Source: Proposed Children and Families (Wales) Measure, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Proposed Measure | Explanatory memorandum | WAG press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report examined the impact that poverty had on children's lives. Although lack of income was an important aspect of poverty, it was also about stress, poor housing, lack of facilities, inadequate infrastructure, fear of crime, and problems associated with living in a deprived area. Poverty prevented people fulfilling personal ambitions and exploiting opportunities; it generated poor physical and mental health; and it absorbed the time and resources required for social and political engagement. Existing definitions, models, and measurements did not reflect the dynamic, multi-dimensional nature of poverty. The report proposed a new model designed to help understand poverty's various dimensions; and it called for the same techniques to be used to improve policies.
Source: Mark Tomlinson and Robert Walker, Coping with Complexity: Child and adult poverty, Child Poverty Action Group (020 7837 7979)
Date: 2009-Feb
The children's rights watchdog in Northern Ireland said that children and young people were subject to a 'life-chance lottery'. It highlighted higher infant deaths and teenage pregnancy rates among those living in deprived areas.
Source: Children's Rights: Rhetoric or Reality – A review of children's rights 2007-2008, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (028 9031 1616)
Links: Report | NICCY press release
Date: 2009-Feb
A survey found that 9 out of 10 parents who used Sure Start children's centres were happy with the service they received. The most popular services were childcare and nursery education.
Source: TNS Social, Sure Start Children's Centres: Survey of Parents, Research Report RR083, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | DCSF press release | Conservative Party press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Feb
A study found that on existing policies child poverty would fall from 2.9 million to 2.3 million by 2010 – 600,000 short of the government's target. To meet its target for 2010, the government would have to invest an estimated £4.2 billion a year in benefits and tax credits above its existing plans. The allocation of an additional £2 billion since 2006 had been offset by an unexpected rise in child poverty between 2004 and 2007 and the increased costs of the economic recession. By 2020, without new policies to help low-income families, child poverty was projected to rise to 3.1 million.
Source: Mike Brewer, James Browne, Robert Joyce and Holly Sutherland, Micro-simulating Child Poverty in 2010 and 2020, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Links: Report | Summary | JRF press release | CPAG press release | CAP press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Feb
A new book used evidence from the national evaluation of the Children's Fund to illustrate and explore the experiences of children and families who were most marginalized. It considered the historical context of approaches to child welfare, and presented a new framework for understanding and developing preventative polices and practice within the context of social exclusion.
Source: Kate Morris, Marian Barnes and Paul Mason, Children, Families and Social Exclusion: New approaches to prevention, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Feb
An article compared the well-being of children across England, Scotland, and Wales. Although England presented the highest child poverty rate, the outcomes of English children did not lag behind those of their Welsh and Scottish peers.
Source: Lucas Pedace, 'Functionings and child wellbeing: unexplained variations across England, Scotland and Wales', Benefits, Volume 17 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Feb
A report said that parents spent on average £683 each year year on children at state primary school, and £1,195 at secondary school. One-half of all parents felt pressured into contributing towards voluntary school trips. 4 in 10 said that they were finding these costs difficult to meet. The government expressed concern and published revised guidance for schools.
Source: Mark Peters, Hannah Carpenter and Gareth Edwards with Nick Coleman, Cost of Schooling 2007, Research Report RR060, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | DCSF press release | CPAG press release | Citizens Advice press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Feb
An article examined the policy, administrative, and compliance problems that had arisen from the working tax credit and child tax credit. From a social policy perspective, these problems had damaged the effectiveness of tax credits; and from public policy and public finance viewpoints, they had damaged the reputation of HM Revenue and Customs and HM Treasury. There was a strong case for a re-examination of the programme and its administration, to see if realistic reforms could deliver a more effective system.
Source: Michael Godwin and Colin Lawson, 'The Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit 2003-08: a critical analysis', Benefits, Volume 17 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Feb
An article examined the debate about the Child Trust Fund. Criticisms of the Fund were part of wider concerns about the future direction of asset-based welfare.
Source: Rajiv Prabhakar, 'The development of asset-based welfare: the case of the Child Trust Fund in the UK', Policy & Politics, Volume 37 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jan
An annual survey found that parents could spend £193,772 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21 – an increase of 4 per cent since the previous survey in 2007.
Source: Press release 23 January 2009, Liverpool Victoria (01202 502204)
Links: Liverpool Victoria press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jan
An article examined the effect of reforms introduced in 1999 to help low-income families with children, especially lone parents, including in-work tax credits and welfare-to-work programmes. It considered employment dynamics, including hours adjustments, and a broader range of outcomes including partnership and indicators of well-being among lone mothers and their children.
Source: Paul Gregg, Susan Harkness and Sarah Smith, 'Welfare reform and lone parents in the UK', Economic Journal, Volume119 Issue 535
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs expressed concern at the extent to which the 2004 public service agreements had been broken. It recommended that the Treasury review its reporting against the child poverty target, in order to ensure that users of the accounts could easily see performance against each of the three measures individually: despite assurances that the Treasury had 'redoubled efforts to meet the 2010 target', the Department might be beginning to resign itself to failure.
Source: Administration and Expenditure of the Chancellor's Departments, 2007-08, First Report (Session 2008-09), HC 35, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan
The government published a 'Child Well-being Index' (CWI), representing the first attempt to create a small-area index exclusively for children in England. Unlike the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), the CWI was restricted by the availability of data, as many datasets were not disaggregated by age group. Data on children was largely collected through surveys that were not robust enough to be broken down to small-area level. The CWI followed a similar approach, structure, and methodology to that used for the IMD 2007.
Source: Jonathan Bradshaw et al., Local Index of Child Well-Being: Summary Report, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs on the 2008 Pre-Budget Report called on the government to conduct a full public consultation on the design of a new fiscal framework, following the impact of the global financial crisis. It noted with concern that the 2008 Report contained no policy measures which would significantly advance the achievement of the 2010 child poverty target.
Source: Pre-Budget Report 2008, Second Report (Session 2008-09), HC 27, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CPAG press release | PCS press release
Date: 2009-Jan
The government began consultation ahead of proposed legislation on the eradication of child poverty by 2020. It outlined four key aspirations, and the steps to achieve them: getting more parents into paid work; financial support that was responsive to families' situations; improvements in children's life-chances so that poverty in childhood did not translate into poor outcomes; and safe, cohesive communities that supported children to thrive.
Source: Ending Child Poverty: Making it Happen, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | Impact assessment | Hansard | DCSF press release | DWP press release | CPAG press release | ECP press release | Action for Children press release | Barnardos press release | LinksUK press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jan
An article examined the engagement of users in service delivery, service planning, and monitoring/evaluation activities for children's centres in Greater Merseyside (in north west England). Research indicated that a lack of time to implement (and develop trust in) the new arrangements, a lack of awareness by users about participation, and a broader remit for children's centres were all hampering the involvement of users. Without such participation there was a real risk that the existing needs of the most disadvantaged groups would not be adequately addressed.
Source: Simon Pemberton and Jennifer Mason, 'Co-production and Sure Start children's centres: reflecting upon users', perspectives and implications for service delivery, planning and evaluation', Social Policy and Society, Volume 8 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jan
A briefing paper examined the evidence concerning the extra financial pressures that families living in poverty faced during the wintertime. This included evidence on the difficulties of paying for gas and electricity; the stress and strain of trying to afford presents and other goods such as food for seasonal celebrations; and the way many families coped with this additional expenditure by resorting to unsuitable and often unaffordable credit.
Source: From Crunch to Crisis: Winter hardship for families in the UK, Barnardo's (01268 520224)
Links: Report | Barnardo's press release
Date: 2009-Jan
The Welsh Assembly Government responded to a report by an Assembly committee on child poverty in Wales. It said that many of the recommendations could be accepted as they directly reflected existing or proposed Welsh Assembly Government policy activity.
Source: Written Response to the Children and Young People's Committee Report: Child Poverty in Wales – Eradication through Education?, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Response | AM report | WAG press release
Date: 2009-Jan